European competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said the US government tried to influence its decision over a 280.5 mln eur fine for software giant Microsoft, newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad said. The US embassy in Brussels had contacted Kroes and asked her to be a bit 'nicer' to Microsoft before she had taken the decision to fine Microsoft in July, Kroes said in an interview.

I can imagine it's not uncommon practice and if you know your own stance, there's no need to open your mouth...it may also help the quality, speed and direction of negotiations.
just let it go in through one ear, out through the other :-)